Don't
tell me you never heard about Robin McAuley! He is a pure legend, a person
who put his incredible voice in the major success of M.S.G. (then-called
McAuley Schenker Group and sings on a huge number of albums even nowadays.
His latest involvement is a new KISS tribute album. With the change of
the music scene in the 1990s Robin decided to stay away from active music
business and went deeply into the computer field. But he might come back
to serious music life very soon! Read on and see for yourself.

MetalKings.com:
Hello, Robin! How are you doing?

Robin
McAuley: I'm fine, thanks. And you?

MetalKings.com:
Fine as well. So let's get started! How did you become a singer? As far
as I know you were born in Ireland?

Robin
McAuley: Yeah, that's right, I was born in Ireland. But I wasn't a singer
back in the early days. I used to be a drummer since 9 years of age. I
played drums in local bands for about eight (!) years and then at 18 years
old I went to London on vacation to visit my sisters. I have three sisters
living in London. So I went to a local club and saw a band there. I auditioned
for them but I wanted to be a drummer. But they heard my voice and liked
it a lot and pushed me to become a singer. Earlier I did some singing
but it was hard for me to be a singer and drummer at the same time. So
I spent three years in that band singing mostly covers, you know Top-40
songs and stuff. And that's when I decided to stop it and join a band
that was doing all original material.

MetalKings.com:
It was Grand Prix, right?

Robin
McAuley: That's right. Before me they had a Canadian singer.

MetalKings.com:
I thought they had Bernie Shaw, who later became a singer of Uriah Heep.

Robin
McAuley: Yes, his name was Bernie Shaw. Is he still with Uriah Heep?

MetalKings.com:
As far as I know he is. Well, did you play with Grand Prix anywhere outside
of the U.K.?

Robin McAuley: No, we never had a chance, we were not popular enough.
However, we did some major tours in the U.K. like being an opening act
for Iron Maiden on their Number of the Beast tour.

MetalKings.com:
I heard you were offered to become a singer of M.S.G. while still in Grand
Prix?

Robin
McAuley: Yes, that's true. We once played a gig in London and Cozy Powell,
Michael Schenker and Andy Nye were in the audience. And some days later
I got a call from Cozy, who asked me to come to Germany and join M.S.G.
But I refused. I got a lot of bad press because of it.

MetalKings.com:
Yeah, I saw a clipping saying, "Who does he think he is to refuse to join
Michael Schenker?"

Robin
McAuley: Right, everyone around me told the same thing. But you know I
was happy in Grand Prix and didn't want to quit the band.

MetalKings.com:
But then Grand Prix split and you had a very interesting project called
GMT. What was it all about?

Robin
McAuley: Basically all those guys were my friends. Originally we had ex-Grand
Prix Mick O'Donaghue on guitars but he quit soon. The project also featured
Phil Taylor of Motorhead. We did demos together but the project soon fell
apart.

MetalKings.com:
Why? What happened?

Robin
McAuley: Well, it was the problem with management. We had a guy who was
acting like he was a manager. He was the one responsible for the disruption
of the band.

MetalKings.com:
But still GMT tracks got released by "Mausoleum Records". How did it happen?

Robin
McAuley: It was a totally unofficial release, we didn't know anything
about it.

MetalKings.com:
But how could they get your demos?

Robin
McAuley: "Mausoleum" was always around, they were interested in releasing
an album but we never came to an agreement and the band split up too soon.

MetalKings.com:
And who was that guy Marcus Schleicher?

Robin
McAuley: Our manager was from Frankfurt, Germany and he knew a guitarist
in the city. He suggested him to us and he was great so he joined the
band for a while.

MetalKings.com:
Back in 1986 you managed to release a solo single with two tracks, "Eloise"
and "Don't Say Goodbye". The single is totally impossible to be found
these days. Can you tell more about it?

Robin
McAuley: The idea once again came from that manager. He asked me to sing
that song of Barry Ryan "Eloise" and it had some success. The manager
found a company called "RPT Records" that agreed to release the single.
The problem was that some weeks later some punk band in the U.K. did their
own version of "Eloise" and it became very popular. So my version kind
of fell apart.

MetalKings.com:
What about "Don't Say Goodbye"? Is that your own song?

Robin
McAuley: Yes. I wrote it back in Grand Prix but it was never released
there. (The song can be found as a bonus track on the "Mausoleum" CD release
of GMT "War Games" - editor.)

MetalKings.com:
You also did a cover-version of Led Zeppelin "Stairway To Heaven" with
Frank Farian's band Far Corporation. How did it happen?

Robin
McAuley: Well, Frank was my good friend. He wanted to record a solo album
and invited me to sing on some tracks. I came down to the studio and recorded
my vocals. The song was a huge hit in the U.K. and was also released as
a single.

MetalKings.com:
So time has come and you finally joined M.S.G.

Robin
McAuley: The band approached me again and asked me to come to Germany
to audition. I decided to give it a chance although I didn't really want
to join the band. So I went to Germany for a weekend and I was the last
out of 17 singers they auditioned. They liked what I did a lot and I became
the member of M.S.G.

MetalKings.com:
Throughout the whole history of M.S.G. your staying in the band caused
the slight change of name. Was it your idea?

Robin
McAuley: No, no, I opposed it. I thought fans knew and loved the band
as M.S.G. and never wanted to change the name. I think at that time Michael
wanted to have not only a singer but a partner as well so I became that
partner. We were getting along very well and one day when we were recording
"Perfect Timing" Michael called me and said, "I see your point, we won't
change the logo and name. But the name will now be desyphered as McAuley
Schenker Group." That's how it was changed.

MetalKings.com:
Robin, among all of my friends the period when you were in M.S.G. is considered
to be the best ever.

Robin
McAuley: Thanks a lot! I think it was more stable than other times. The
band was really tight and strong, I guess.

MetalKings.com:
Probably the most famous record with you was "Save Yourself". Let's talk
about it. The song "Anytime", how it was written? In the video there are
black and white shots like in a movie. Was it really a movie?

Robin
McAuley: Well, I have very personal feelings about that song. There are
lots of stories about it. Many people took the lyrics as personally as
I did. I just parted with a girlfriend and I tried to express my feelings
in the song. I remember when we went to tour in Japan for "Save Yourself"
I did an interview with a magazine and when I was telling her about "Anytime"
that interviewer girl started crying. I said, "Oh, did I say something
wrong?" But it turned out that she also took it very personally so you
can imagine the impact the song had. About the video, those shots were
not from a movie. The record company just wanted to make some type of
story based on the lyrics and that's what you see in the video.

MetalKings.com:
My personal favorite ballad from that album is "This Is My Heart". And
the video is brilliant! Was that big logo on which you were performing
a computer effect or was it a real thing?

Robin
McAuley: No, it was a real thing. I think that some people can relate
to some songs and lyrics more than to the others. OK, let's talk about
the video. It was made in Long Beach, California. We shot it during the
night and were really exhausted the next day. Moreover, we had to go to
San Francisco but me and bass player Rocky Newton couldn't do it because
during the shot directors used lightnings and we were blinded with them
so me and Rocky had to stay in the hospital for a while. The logo on which
we were performing was not a computer-made one, it was the real thing
made in a room where the shot took place. But the effect from those lightnings
was very painful for our eyes.

MetalKings.com:
What about the song "Take Me Back"? It's a great track! Why it was only
on CD?

Robin
McAuley: It was the decision of the record company. At that time it was
very popular to put something special on the CD since that format was
the best available and vinyl was not. That's why out of all songs recorded
we chose "Take Me Back". It was not a bad song, I liked it too but the
whole band made a decision to take it only on the CD version.

MetalKings.com:
Was the situation the same with the track "Vicious", which was released
only on the single "This Is My Heart" in 1990?

Robin
McAuley: That's right. It was a nice song as well and we wanted to add
something special to that single since the song was a big hit. You know,
there were lots of songs written for the album "Save Yourself" and many
of them were just thrown out.

MetalKings.com:
Do you know what happened to them?

Robin McAuley: No, no idea. I think Michael still has those demos somewhere.
You see, when we composed songs we recorded just demos with music and
no lyrics in them. After that we gathered together as a band, chose the
songs we liked, took them to the finishing stage and that's when I wrote
lyrics. So most of those demos were just instrumentals in very rough stages.

MetalKings.com:
In between "Save Yourself" and "M.S.G." albums you and Michael went to
work on different projects. Michael worked with Contraband and you recorded
a song for the movie "If Looks Could Kill". How did it happen?

Robin
McAuley: A friend of mine, David Foster, who was responsible for the soundtrack
for the movie invited me to sing a song there. He liked my voice a lot
and together we composed that song "Teach Me How To Dream".

MetalKings.com:
I think the song is brilliant, it features an awesome piano sound! Who
played on it?

Robin
McAuley: There was a whole bunch of studio musicians. You know, when there
is a soundtrack to the movie being made most of the people playing on
it are studio musicians hired for the project. I remember that David Foster
himself played piano, Michael Bolton's then-drummer was involved as well
but other people I can't remember.

MetalKings.com:
OK, back to M.S.G. What happened to the band? Why the line-up from "Save
Yourself" didn't last for more albums?

Robin
McAuley: The problem was that me and Michael were living in the States
while other members lived in other countries. Drummer Bodo Schopf, who
is a great person and awesome drummer, lived in Stuttgart, which is in
the southern Germany. Bassist Rocky Newton and second guitar player Steve
Mann lived in the U.K. So it was very hard to maintain communication between
all of us. Also before the "M.S.G." album was recorded I became good friends
with ex-Kingdom Come drummer James Kottak and ex-Dokken bass player Jeff
Pilson. When it came time to record the new album I simply suggested those
guys to Michael and he was glad to have them in the band.

MetalKings.com:
What happened to the direction of the album? Why it was so much acoustic-oriented?

Robin
McAuley: Well, unplugged performances became a hip and we simply decided
to give songs more melodic approach with acoustic-oriented sound. It turned
out great! The song "When I'm Gone" was released as a single and was extremely
popular here in the States.

MetalKings.com:
Why so many versions of same songs were released on singles?

Robin
McAuley: The problem was that radio stations refused to play songs longer
than 5-6 minutes. So we had to cut songs and make edited and CHR versions.

MetalKings.com:
Before the full-length album "Unplugged" there was the EP "Nightmare"
released only in Japan. Why you needed an EP with same songs when a full-length
album was going to be released?

Robin
McAuley: Mainly it was for two purposes; it was a souvenir for Japanese
fans and second, we wanted to try out and see how songs looked in the
unplugged version. So we recorded about five tracks in the studio. We
tried "Bad Boys", "When I'm Gone" and some others. Most of the songs were
easy to make unplugged since they were already stripped of technical effects
in their original form. After the album "M.S.G." was released we toured
all over the world and it was extremely successful. We tried to make the
performances as unplugged as possible. While some bands use electric bass
or real drums we didn't. Only acoustic guitars. They were plugged but
only to make them sound louder.

MetalKings.com:
OK, we got to the biggest question that ever came to my mind and what
many fans have. It is "Why you left M.S.G.?"

Robin
McAuley: There were several reasons for it. No personal differences and
no musical ones were involved. Michael was simply going to settle down
a little, he wished to release a solo acoustic album so we just parted
friendly. We exchange e-mails once in a while and we're still good friends.
I also thought that for six years that we were together we could do more
than three albums. I also wanted to release "Bad Boys" as a single but
it never happened.

MetalKings.com:
Lots of people tell weirdest stories about Michael and his behavior. Can
you tell me something about it? Why he is such a person?

Robin
McAuley: How do you expect me to answer this? (both laughing)

MetalKings.com:
I personally think that he is German, maybe there are mentality differences.

Robin
McAuley: Let's put it this way - you have your own view of things, I have
my own view of things and Michael has his own view of things. Many times
people tell me, "Oh, Michael is strange", they tell crazy stories about
him, blah-blah-blah... I should point out that most importantly Michael
is a pure professional. He practices every day, he literally sleeps with
his guitar. I think the only problem with him, if it can be considered
a problem at all, is that he is very unpredictable. He changes his mind
sometimes too fast. But I can assure you that at least we had no problems
on the personal level.

MetalKings.com:
So after the M.S.G. split up you left the music world for some years.

Robin
McAuley: Right. I went back to school. I learned computer design, I was
always interested in it. I learned it at college in Texas and that's what
I do now for a living.

MetalKings.com:
In the late 1990s German record company "MTM Music" released the album
of Elements Of Friction and you were the singer. How did it happen? Was
it a one-time affair?

Robin McAuley: The whole project was made by Ricky Phillips. He is a brilliant
musician and songwriter, it was great working with him. It was a one-time
affair, that's right.

MetalKings.com:
Finally in 1999 your solo album "Business As Usual" came out in Japan.
Why only in Japan?

Robin McAuley: The whole album was recorded in mid-1990s. Nobody ever
believed that Frankie Sullivan could be such a great guitar player and
I proved it on the album. We had lots of fun when recording the album.
But there was one problem; we didn't have a drummer. At first I didn't
want to put out the album that had no real drummer on it. It was drum
computer on the album. Finally Japanese company "Big M.F." approached
me and released the album. The reason why it remains unreleased anywhere
else is very simple; nobody was interested. I asked several companies
to release it in the States but when you get refuses all the time you
finally stop doing it.

MetalKings.com:
What a shame!

Robin
McAuley: I think so too. The album is very good.

MetalKings.com:
Robin, tell me the truth - do you regret the fact that you are not in
the active music business anymore since the heavy metal and hard rock
scene in getting more and more popular nowadays?

Robin
McAuley: Well, here in the States it is not so good. Still in the year
2003 there was a tour in the USA with three singers including Glen Hughes
and me. It was called "The Voices of Rock". We played about 20 concerts
and the response was great. I also sing in commercials. Some time ago
me and Ricky Phillips did a commercial for Buick cars and I heard it over
and over on the TV in every city where I went to.

MetalKings.com:
Since you live in the States can you describe what is going on with hard
rock music scene there?

Robin
McAuley: In the 1990s it was as dead as ever. Nirvana, Pantera and other
grunge and hardcore bands totally killed the hard rock scene. The media
turned away from that music as well. But now if you look at the hard rock
scene in California there are lots of cover-bands. There are cover-bands
of Journey, AC/DC, KISS, Van Halen. You see, many of those bands do not
tour a lot so young kids create cover-bands and play all their material.
But media doesn't give a damn about it all. There is no support in magazines
or on TV. Bands like Korn are very popular nowadays.

MetalKings.com:
Do you plan to record more albums in future?

Robin McAuley: Right now I'm working with my new band called Bleed. It
is a very very heavy band but it also has great melodies in music. We
recorded four songs and as soon as the fourth one is mixed we will shop
for a record deal.